Activity 13: Style and Movement
The question of what determines art as art is still a question that our society is struggling with today(21.) Many factors make up what we consider art; the way is what made, what the artwork displays and even the history of the artist plays a part (18-21.) Many people determine the value of art in terms of money (19) while many artist determine the value of thier work in terms of expressing thier own personal satisfaction and depicting thier views of the world.
Martin Johnson Heade's "Cattleya Orchid and Three Brazilian Hummingbirds", 1871, oil on wood, is a painting that demonstrates a precise style and helps define the Realist period (nga.) Heade recieved his earliest training from a portraitist named Edward Hicks (search.) His early paintings were portraits that were known to be stiff and unsophhisticated (nga.) However by the 1850's he starting experimenting with landscapes which suited Heade (nga.) With his new found inspiration of painting intimate and less dramatic landscape Heade entered the movement of Realist. This movement was geared toward showing life as it was happening, a true account of the world (508.) Heade's "Cattleya Orchid and Three Brazilian Hummingbirds" displays an accurate account of what Heade saw on one of his visits to South America (nga.) Heade applied precise detail that this painting could be considered a still life even though he did not paint it in the field (nga.) Heade painted this scene along with many of his other works in a naturalistic style, recording how forms are revealed by light and shadow, the way images truly look naturally (29.) The form, the way the artwork looks, and the content, what the artwork is about, displays the beauty Heade found in nature (36.) Heade expressed his appreciation for nature the way he painted his landscaped in exact detail.
Horace Vernet's "Hunting in the Pontine Marshes", 1833, oil on canvas, depicts a similar style as Heade but Vernet belonged to a very different movement. Even though Vernet is not a well known artist he has been compared to some of the greatest French artist of all time(nga.) While very little is known about his art education, he was the grandson of another famous artist, Claude Joseph Vernet, who specialized in landscape (wga.)Although Vernet is better known for his military paintings, his awe inspiring "Hunting in the Pontine Marshes" helps define a Romantic movement. Romantic artist explored the realms of emotion, intuition and above all imagination (507.) Like Heade, Vernet was also inspired by nature; however, Vernet exercised his imagination in this particular painting by creating an imaginary world which expresses an important message. While Vernet also incorporated a naturalistic style as Heade did, Vernet used his imagination to depict the world around him instead of actual accounts (29.) He painted his imaginary scenery the way it would appear in real life, the way the sun would shine through the trees and the darker background as it would appear (29.) The form depicts an outside world while the context describes Vernet view of the world, men are far too small to bother the giant world of nature (36.)
While both artist had a similar style, they both expressed themselves through different movements. These differences and similarities are what make art, art. Anything can be art from an artist point of view.
Works Cited
Getlein, Mark Living With Art Eighth Edition, New York, 2008
National Gallery of Art, http://www.nga.gov./, 2008
Martin Johnson Heade's artwork, http://search.famsf.org.8080/search.shtml?keywords:martin&heade, 2007
Horace Vernet biography, http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?bio/v/vernet/horace/biograph.html, 2008
Martin Johnson Heade's "Cattleya Orchid and Three Brazilian Hummingbirds", 1871, oil on wood, is a painting that demonstrates a precise style and helps define the Realist period (nga.) Heade recieved his earliest training from a portraitist named Edward Hicks (search.) His early paintings were portraits that were known to be stiff and unsophhisticated (nga.) However by the 1850's he starting experimenting with landscapes which suited Heade (nga.) With his new found inspiration of painting intimate and less dramatic landscape Heade entered the movement of Realist. This movement was geared toward showing life as it was happening, a true account of the world (508.) Heade's "Cattleya Orchid and Three Brazilian Hummingbirds" displays an accurate account of what Heade saw on one of his visits to South America (nga.) Heade applied precise detail that this painting could be considered a still life even though he did not paint it in the field (nga.) Heade painted this scene along with many of his other works in a naturalistic style, recording how forms are revealed by light and shadow, the way images truly look naturally (29.) The form, the way the artwork looks, and the content, what the artwork is about, displays the beauty Heade found in nature (36.) Heade expressed his appreciation for nature the way he painted his landscaped in exact detail.
Horace Vernet's "Hunting in the Pontine Marshes", 1833, oil on canvas, depicts a similar style as Heade but Vernet belonged to a very different movement. Even though Vernet is not a well known artist he has been compared to some of the greatest French artist of all time(nga.) While very little is known about his art education, he was the grandson of another famous artist, Claude Joseph Vernet, who specialized in landscape (wga.)Although Vernet is better known for his military paintings, his awe inspiring "Hunting in the Pontine Marshes" helps define a Romantic movement. Romantic artist explored the realms of emotion, intuition and above all imagination (507.) Like Heade, Vernet was also inspired by nature; however, Vernet exercised his imagination in this particular painting by creating an imaginary world which expresses an important message. While Vernet also incorporated a naturalistic style as Heade did, Vernet used his imagination to depict the world around him instead of actual accounts (29.) He painted his imaginary scenery the way it would appear in real life, the way the sun would shine through the trees and the darker background as it would appear (29.) The form depicts an outside world while the context describes Vernet view of the world, men are far too small to bother the giant world of nature (36.)
While both artist had a similar style, they both expressed themselves through different movements. These differences and similarities are what make art, art. Anything can be art from an artist point of view.
Works Cited
Getlein, Mark Living With Art Eighth Edition, New York, 2008
National Gallery of Art, http://www.nga.gov./, 2008
Martin Johnson Heade's artwork, http://search.famsf.org.8080/search.shtml?keywords:martin&heade, 2007
Horace Vernet biography, http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?bio/v/vernet/horace/biograph.html, 2008
posted by christyo at
6:54 AM
1 Comments:
Dear Christy,
This is a comprehensive essay. But it never really defines Movement or style.
The thesis paragraph is completely unrelated to the content of the essay.
Consider changing the thesis to reflect movement and style and the definitions of each term.
It is Realist movement (not period).
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